Shoppers hunger for 'local' foods at supermarkets

Esther Han

Shoppers have never been more enthused about eating local foods, flocking to farmers' markets, tending community gardens, and engaging in food swaps. And supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths are looking to cash in with one commissioning research that revealed 80 per cent of customers would opt for local foods if they were available. Only 20 per cent said the stores provided a good range.

“The supermarkets are aware consumers now want local foods. In order to catch that market, we’re seeing them trying to embed local offerings and use the term ‘local’ more,” said researcher Gary Mortimer from the Queensland University of Technology.

“There’s a drive for local food, a hunger, and the challenge supermarkets face is to present local foods with a level of integrity.”

Dr Mortimer also found shoppers were choosing to buy local because they wanted to feel connected with the community and support the local economy, quashing long-held assumptions they were spurred by environmental and health concerns.

“Consumers are willing to pay more for local food – that’s underlined by the belief products are from small, family-owned businesses that don’t have the economies of scale for low-cost prices,” he said.

Advertisement

Last September, Woolworths began selling Manning Valley-produced milk at eight stores in Taree, trialling whether shoppers preferred products from suppliers in their region. It was such asuccess, it expanded the range to 20 stores by November, and then all NSW stores by March.

“We made it clear with our in-store promotions and signs the product is from NSW," he said, adding they had also experienced success in selling the family-owned Southern Highland Organic Eggs at seven stores in the district.

Dr Mortimer said defining local was complicated with a range of 100 miles being used in the United States and 30 miles in Britain.

"In Australia some people use local to mean 100 kilometres", but there was no firm definition, he said.

Woolworths saw sales of its frozen vegetables plummet four years ago when it began sourcing them from Asia. It swiftly reverted back to Australian producers and sales recovered.

The QUT research found 88 per cent of consumers believed local food meant products sourced within their region, town or city, and 73 per cent considered it as foods from within 100km from their home region, town or city.

More than 90 per cent believed they were supporting local farms and businesses by buying local produce, while 89 per cent thought such a purchase helped prop up the local economy.

Coles relaunched its Coles Finest range in December, which included more region-specific products. Its honey range, for example, was tailored to each state and included White Box in NSW, Stringybark in Victoria and Ironbark in Queensland.

“The provenance of the ingredients included in Coles Finest is core to the quality credentials,” Coles' head of brand and customer insights Kendra Banks said.

“Around 90 per cent of consumers said it was important to them where their food comes from with locally produced premium food in greater demand than ever before.”

But Nick Ray from Local Harvest, a project by the Ethical Consumer Group, said supermarkets claims of supporting local suppliers should be taken with a grain of salt.

“Coles was recently taken to court because of its bullying antics against its suppliers. So if you’re sourcing locally but not looking after those suppliers there’s all sorts of questions about what you’re actually doing,” he said.

Metcash, owner of the IGA banner, said its supermarkets had always supported local producers.

“We’re part of the community in every major city and small town across Australia. It’s what we stand for,” said Metcash’s chief executive of food and grocery supermarkets Fergus Collins.

He said Ritchies Supa IGA in Griffith was a prime example where local foods ruled. The silverbeet, pumpkin, oranges, mandarins and hydro-lettuce ranges at the store are all grown by Griffith farmers and bought at farm-gate prices.

The latest industry market intelligence research AustraliaScan shows “premium quality”, “locally produced” and “no/low fat” are the top three claims consumers base their purchase decisions on.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warned businesses to use the word ‘local’ with caution, as it was illegal to mislead consumers about the standard, quality and origin of products.

“Using ‘local’ to indicate the origin of a product may be of concern to the ACCC if it is used in such a way that a reasonable consumer would be misled,” a spokesman said.

In 2000, the federal court found Pauls guilty of breaching consumer law for claiming its milk was “local” in its Northern Territory advertising drive, when it was made in Queensland.